Mantralaya, the state’s most important building, is not fire-safe.
Internal additions and alterations in the passageways and near entrances
and exits on various floors make it a potentially dangerous place in
the eventuality of a fire.
Despite this and other slipups identified by the fire brigade in its audit report, many of the wrongs are yet to be rectified.
The fire-safety audit, carried out on September 29, 2008, found risks on 32 counts in the building. Besides chinks in some of the electrical equipment, additions and alterations in the passageways, and obstructions created on and near the entrances and exits were objected to in the report.
Mantralaya houses the offices of chief minister Ashok Chavan, other ministers, and principal secretaries. Officials said many alterations were carried out to accommodate cabins of ministers and senior bureaucrats.
The report objected to encroachments, storage and blockages, erected along the entrances, various exits, including the emergency exit, common passages, the lift lobby, and staircase portions.
Of the 32 objections, 14 pertain to electrical gadgets. Eighteen are civil related. A high-rise is usually expected to file a compliance report within a fortnight of a fire-safety audit.
Mantralaya officials attributed the lapses to lack of adequate space. The eight-storey Mantralaya building — it has a ground floor, a mezzanine and six other floors — houses 39 departments.
“Owing to a lack of space, seating and file storage arrangements often spill on to the passageways. On some of the floors, the space crunch is such that even departments are made to function from set-ups erected along the passageways,” a senior Mantralaya official said.
The fire audit had even objected to the parking of vehicles in the marginal (compulsory) open spaces of the building and the approach road.
The report also objected to cooking being carried out without permission in canteens operating on the mezzanine, third, fifth and sixth floors. It said the canteens did not have permission from the municipal health officer. It mentiones scrap material and old office records dumped on various floors as a risk as well.
Despite this and other slipups identified by the fire brigade in its audit report, many of the wrongs are yet to be rectified.
The fire-safety audit, carried out on September 29, 2008, found risks on 32 counts in the building. Besides chinks in some of the electrical equipment, additions and alterations in the passageways, and obstructions created on and near the entrances and exits were objected to in the report.
Mantralaya houses the offices of chief minister Ashok Chavan, other ministers, and principal secretaries. Officials said many alterations were carried out to accommodate cabins of ministers and senior bureaucrats.
The report objected to encroachments, storage and blockages, erected along the entrances, various exits, including the emergency exit, common passages, the lift lobby, and staircase portions.
Of the 32 objections, 14 pertain to electrical gadgets. Eighteen are civil related. A high-rise is usually expected to file a compliance report within a fortnight of a fire-safety audit.
Mantralaya officials attributed the lapses to lack of adequate space. The eight-storey Mantralaya building — it has a ground floor, a mezzanine and six other floors — houses 39 departments.
“Owing to a lack of space, seating and file storage arrangements often spill on to the passageways. On some of the floors, the space crunch is such that even departments are made to function from set-ups erected along the passageways,” a senior Mantralaya official said.
The fire audit had even objected to the parking of vehicles in the marginal (compulsory) open spaces of the building and the approach road.
The report also objected to cooking being carried out without permission in canteens operating on the mezzanine, third, fifth and sixth floors. It said the canteens did not have permission from the municipal health officer. It mentiones scrap material and old office records dumped on various floors as a risk as well.
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